QUARTERLY REPORT APRIL-JUNE 2015 State authorities should serve their people instead of acting as their ruler» Algirdas Semeta, «Business Ombudsman for Ukraine CONTENT Content 1 Introduction 4 2 Operations overview 6 The Office The Team Key reporting milestones 3 Complaint trends and significant cases 11 Number of complaints received The term of the preliminary review of complaints Number of complaint reviews and grounds for declining complaints The term for complaint review Geographical distribution of complaints received Government agencies subject to the most complaints Significant cases and results 4 Communications and Outreach 18 Website Social networks The media Working visits Cooperation with government agencies 5 Systemic problems 22 6 Reports on systemic problems 23 7 Plans for the next quarter 29 Advocating for business with the government 3 INTRODUCTION Dear Friends, Colleagues and Partners, It is my pleasure to present to you the first public quarterly report of the Business Ombudsman Council of Ukraine. The Council was set up in November 2014, and since the start of our activities on 20 May 2015, we have received more than enough proof that businesses in Ukraine perceive the Council as an effective tool designed to help improve the business climate in Ukraine. During the first week alone, we received 50 complaints from businesses all over the country, and by the end of the reporting quarter this number grew to 172. When I accepted this job, I was convinced I could contribute in a practical way to a transformation that many consider impossible: a sharp enough reduction in Ukraine’s endemic corruption to spur private investment and improve living standards. As challenging as this task may seem, the first reporting quarter has shown that the Council’s team is more than up for this task and we have already begun to see the first results. Ukraine’s business climate is currently far from favorable. I am convinced that the biggest, most deeply ingrained problem with doing business in Ukraine is, of course, corruption. Until the state authorities serve their people instead of acting as their ruler, until their oversight bodies help business meet regulatory requirements instead of punishing it, much-needed economic growth will remain difficult for Ukraine to attain. We believe we are capable of furthering progress towards attracting foreign investment to Ukraine and easing the regulatory burden on local business—provided that we maintain ongoing dialogue with both sides: entrepreneurs and government institutions. For instance, the Council recently signed a Memorandum of Partnership and Cooperation with the State Regulatory Service on implementation of business deregulation policy. Our team will provide practical recommendations on how and where 4 www.boi.org.ua INTRODUCTION Dear Friends, Colleagues and Partners, to simplify legislation, improve the business against business, repeated failure on the part environment, and prevent corruption and other of central and local officials to enforce court abuses of legitimate private business interests. rulings in favor of a business, and so on. We also received numerous complaints about export- During the past quarter, I traveled to Chernihiv import legislation. Export limitations and various and Kharkiv Oblasts and I have plans to travel sanctions, such as individual licensing, excessive to Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Lviv, Mykolayiv, import limitations, and temporary bans on selling and Kherson Oblasts next. During these trips, imported goods were most frequently mentioned I spoke with business owners, directors, and in the complaints we received in the reporting heads of local governments, and was glad to quarter. Details may vary in each case, but overall, see that we all want the same thing: to live in the complaints suggest that there is a genuine a prosperous, economically stable country. need for this Council to cooperate long-term Following my working visit to Kharkiv Oblast, with government agencies, and we intend to local businesses proposed—and the Oblast do just that. We also identified the government State Administration supported—setting up an institutions, against which the largest number ongoing dialogue of local entrepreneurs with of complaints were lodged and are now actively the Council to work closely with the government working with them to resolve the issues raised. to identify and resolve the most pressing regulatory issues in the region. The Council and Recognizing the magnitude of the task set the Kharkiv Oblast State Administration also before us, the Council team takes its mission agreed on specific practical steps to improve the very seriously. We will continue to issue detailed oblast’s investment potential. recommendations to the relevant government bodies to eliminate the discrepancies and Though we have seen the first signs of violations business brings up. We will monitor improvement in terms of business-government each initiative very closely to make sure the dialogue as result of our meetings and recommended action is taken within the agreed interventions, there are systemic problems that timeframe. Should the need arise, we will not need to be resolved, for Ukraine’s economy and hesitate to address higher authorities, such as the investment climate to truly turn around. After Ministries and the Verkhovna Rada, and will work analyzing the complaints received and speaking with the media to make the issue as public as to dozens of entrepreneurs and civil servants, necessary. our team has identified these problems. I look forward to sharing thoughts and initiatives Among the most burning issues for Ukrainian with you on how to make Ukraine a better place businesses are problems with dilatory VAT to invest and to do business in. refunds, unfounded criminal proceedings Sincerely, Algirdas Šemeta Business Ombudsman Advocating for business with the government 5 OPERATIONS OVERVIEW 2 Operations overview April-June 2015 The Office The Business Ombudsman is an independent permanent advisory body under the Cabinet Council of Ministers of Ukraine, with a mandate to help establish a transparent business environment and prevent corruption at the central and local government levels, and in state-owned and state-controlled companies within the scope of their administration. In its activity, the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine; the Council abides by decrees of the President; legislative acts of the Verkhovna Rada, in line with the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine; resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Council operates Cabinet Resolution #691, dated November 26, 2014; in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding with the Ukrainian Anticorruption Initiative, dated May 12, 2014. Council is funded through a dedicated multi-donor account set up at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 2014. Funding is provided by Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, nine donor countries: Switzerland, Great Britain, and the US. Budget €1.5 million annually The Council was founded the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine; as mutually agreed by the EBRD; the OECD; the European Business Association; the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine; the Federation of Ukrainian Employers; the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. 6 www.boi.org.ua OPERATIONS OVERVIEW The Council reviews complaints of businesses regarding maladministration by state authorities and civil servants as well as state-owned or state-controlled companies; conducts investigations; liaises with the public and the relevant authorities to share its findings. The Council has to facilitate the battle against corruption three main objectives: and other business abuse; to contribute to greater investment attractiveness in Ukraine; to promote a public service culture of fairness, openness and accountability. The Business Ombudsman Council is meant to be the initial point of contact for companies seeking redress against unjust treatment. It will publicize all its reports on incoming complaints from businesses and how they were handled. In December 2014, the governing body of the Ukrainian Anticorruption Initiative unanimously nominated, and the Cabinet of Ministers approved, Algirdas Šemeta, a former European Commissioner for Taxation, Customs, Statistics, Audit and Anti-Fraud, for the position of Business Ombudsman. The Supervisory Board, government agencies: The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine; the Council’s governing international financial institutions: the EBRD, Organization for body, includes authorized Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); representatives of these business associations: the American Chamber of Commerce organizations: (ACC), European Business Association (EBA), the Federation of Ukrainian Employers (FUE), the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI), and the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE). Sevki Acuner, EBRD Director in Ukraine, has been elected to chair the Supervisory Board. Advocating for business with the government 7 OPERATIONS OVERVIEW The Team The Business Ombudsman Council includes the Business Ombudsman, two Deputies, and other staff that the Council may hire, as the need arises, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure. At the end of the reporting period, the Council’s team consisted of 14 people: distinguished experts with mostly western education and practical experience in law, strategic management, economics, auditing,